1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to computerized indexing systems, and particularly to computer file and product indexing. Still more particularly, this invention relates to a database controller which catalogs a file or product""s existence, version and location using a unique key code, generated automatically; provides means for searching for the product by the key code, boolean keyword strings or catalog topics; and provides means for interconnecting the searcher with a custodian or supplier of the file or product.
2. Description of Related Art
Computer application programs fast become obsolescent. Publishers"" post-publication improvements and error correcting xe2x80x9cpatchesxe2x80x9d usually reach users only through retail, direct mail or from publisher-maintained Internet web sites. Third parties, including both after-market suppliers and individuals with programming interest, likewise privately publish hard-to-find improvements and patches even after the original publishers go out of business or discontinue a program. A need exists for a comprehensive catalog of such files, identifying improvements and supplying information about improvements and current locations for obtaining them.
Particularly where third parties make improvements, naming conventions for files containing them can be less than illuminating. Further, file names often contain any number of non-alphabetic characters which may tell the programmer exactly what the file contains, but which are incomprehensible to others. A cataloging system of improvements which included a logically derived key code tying improvement files to an original program would prove useful.
Beyond the computer program context, suppliers of other products commonly employ automated inventory programs that track physical products by proprietary inventory product code numbers. Such product numbers seldom are standardized between industries, however, or even between suppliers within a given industry. The result, especially over time, is a myriad of numbering schemes and ad hoc cross references between suppliers that necessitates tracing a product number to a new or different supplier""s inventory system to obtain the correct product. A need exists for a standardized product labeling system common to all inventory programs, permitting immediate access to all suppliers offering replacement, substitute or comparable products.
Upgrades to physical products can present a particular problem. Sometimes one supplier""s replacement for another""s product changes its specifications. Though the replacement will work, it may require accessories or adapters where the original equipment did not. In that supplier""s inventory scheme, such accessories may or may not indicate association with the primary product. A need exists for a product numbering code which threads products to upgraded and related products.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a file cataloging system which creates a central location for finding myriad variations, improvements, patches and upgrades to previously published computer programs.
It is another object of this invention to provide a key code for each catalog entry which identifies a computer file with other files to which it is related.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a system and method of generating a key code from a file name.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a system and method for tracing products through the inventory systems of various alternative suppliers despite their proprietary numbering schemes.
It is yet another object of the present invention to thread related key codes through a central controller system for ease of locating and obtaining associated products.
The foregoing and other objects of this invention are achieved by providing a key code generating engine which strips extenders and other unwanted characters from a product name, truncates the remainder to a set maximum, appends the result to a product identifier and provides a version suffix. The key code then is associated with other information about the file or product, such as a description, version, size, and a location identifier such as an address, telephone number or Internet web site URL. The resulting record is collated into a plurality of databases accessible through the Internet and searchable by key code or boolean keyword strings to locate files for downloading or vendors"" web pages for ordering or learning more about a product. Multiple database systems segregated by subject matter can provide users a virtual card catalog of products and their respective upgrades, patches and add-ons. The key code, when applied to physical products instead of files, also can provide means for researching availability and ordering such physical products and accessories through alternative supplier inventory schemes.